BANGKOK: A Thai gunman received a life imprisonment sentence on Friday for the murder of a Cambodian opposition politician in Bangkok.
French national Lim Kimya, a former opposition lawmaker in Cambodia, was shot dead on January 7 by Ekkalak Paenoi during the ex-MP’s visit to Bangkok with his wife.
Cambodian opposition figures have accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting.
Lim Kimya’s widow called this week for a full accounting of who was behind the assassination.
The Bangkok Criminal Court judge stated that the defendant’s actions caused harm to the plaintiff but reduced the sentence to life imprisonment due to his confession.
Ekkalak was arrested in neighbouring Cambodia just one day after the shooting and confessed to the murder in a livestream video.
The trial began only three days ago with witness examinations including Lim Kimya’s widow Anne-Marie Lim.
Her lawyer Nadhthasiri Bergman said Anne-Marie is probably satisfied with the verdict but still questions who ordered the crime.
She wants authorities to get to the bottom of this assassination.
Bergman added that they know suspects are in Cambodia and asked the Thai government to help push the extradition process.
The judge did not offer details about the killer’s motive or a possible mastermind behind the murder.
Thai police said in January they were also seeking to arrest a Cambodian national believed to be behind the killing.
The court dismissed charges against a second defendant, Thai national Chakrit Buakhil, who was accused of driving Ekkalak to the Cambodian border.
Chakrit’s lawyer Natchapong Moosakopas stated his client was only a driver who did not know what was happening.
The two defendants walked into court on Friday morning wearing prison uniforms with their hands cuffed together.
Some Thai media reported this year that Ekkalak was paid 60,000 baht for the killing.
Police said he claimed he did not receive payment and took the job to pay a debt of gratitude.
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet has denied his government or his father Hun Sen’s involvement in the murder.
The former premier led Cambodia for nearly four decades until 2023.
Western nations and rights groups have long accused his government of using the legal system to crush the opposition. – AFP
